The bullying of academics follows a pattern of horrendous, Orwellian elimination rituals, often hidden from the public. Despite the anti-bullying policies (often token), bullying is rife across campuses, and the victims (targets) often pay a heavy price.
"Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence." Leonardo da Vinci - "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men [or good women] do nothing." Edmund Burke

October 23, 2015

A study
of more than 22,000 university staff shows that academics in regional
universities were more likely to experience bullying compared to those
at other types of universities.

The survey, which looked at
working life in 19 different universities across Australia, was set up
to test whether the anecdotal complaints of colleagues at regional
universities was anything more than the traditional complaints of
academics about freedom, autonomy and managerialism.What did the study show?

This was the first study of its kind to look at bullying across a range of Australian universities. Overall,
28 per cent of academics reported being bullied, with 12 per cent
saying the bullying they experienced was serious enough to consider
taking a formal case.

However, people were reluctant to take action as they felt pursing the matter would only make things worse.

The
rate of bullying varied a lot across different types of universities.
One third (36 per cent) of academic staff at the four regional
universities reporting being bullied, 1.5 times more than in the five Group of Eight — the most prestigious — universities.

Disturbingly,
42 per cent of staff at one regional university said they had been
bullied. Academics reported being publicly humiliated, excluded,
intimidated and discriminated against.

The
institutional effects are also worrying. Workplace bullying damages
productivity and reputation and can be seriously costly to universities.

Work-related harassment and/or workplace bullying has a direct cost of around $18,000 per claim, according to Safe Work Australia — and this is without considering the indirect costs to productivity and staff turnover.

Given the recent changes in legislation,
which requires employers to demonstrate they have been proactive in
addressing workplace health and safety issues, it's critical to
understand what might be contributing to these toxic work places.

Toxic work environments

The research showed that Aboriginal
Australians, people from ethnic minority groups, women, and those with
family commitments were more likely to be bullied.

Evidence of
nepotism was also evident, with individuals who were appointed by a
competitive process reporting more harassment than those who weren't.
And this was more common in regional universities.

Health and
safety regulations require senior management to act to reduce workplace
health hazards. But it's likely that at least some senior managers of
these institutions are modelling and enabling the bullying and
harassment reported in this survey, without senior level support, a
culture of bullying would not thrive.

How to change this culture of bullying

Changing
a culture that propagates bullying and harassment, even with a
determined cross-organisation effort, is a long-term endeavour.

Using guidance from Safe Work Australia on how to prevent and manage bullying in the workplace, going forward, universities need to:

Set
the standard for appropriate behaviour — Senior management need to set
and enforce clear standards of behaviour through a code of conduct or a
workplace policy that outlines what is and is not appropriate behaviour.
They also need to state what action will be taken to deal with
unacceptable behaviour. Unfortunately, many university policies
currently require the victim to make a complaint to the probable bully
as a first step.

Develop positive workplace relationships —
Universities need to promote positive leadership styles by providing
training for managers and supervisors on communicating effectively in
difficult situations, including how to engage workers in decision-making
"(which the survey showed has decreased over recent years in regional
universities), and providing constructive feedback.

Implement
proper reporting procedures — A victim needs to know there is a
reporting process that protects them and will be acted on.
Unfortunately, fear of victimisation is the most common reason given for
not reporting bullying in the study.

October 01, 2015

The University and Colleges Union at Ulster University have this
morning declared a dispute with the employer because of a failure to
properly consult over collective redundancies.
In a redundancy situation, employers are required to consult
meaningfully with the recognised trade unions with a view to reaching
agreement on a set of proposals that are fair and equitable. The trade
unions must be consulted on avoiding dismissals, reducing the number of
dismissals and mitigating the consequences of dismissals.

Ulster University Management has presented its proposals, which
include course closures and the loss of significant proportions of staff
in targeted areas, as a fait accompli. Immediately after the proposals
were announced, rather than enter a period of statutory consultation,
courses were removed from the UCAS application system. An unagreed
‘voluntary’ severance scheme was opened to some but not all staff in
targeted areas and was done so before the University published its
business case to the trade union. UCU does not believe this constitutes
meaningful consultation.

The closing date for applications to the voluntary severance scheme
time is 30th October 2015. It has been offered to selected staff
simultaneous to public announcements of course and departmental
closures. Individuals have been placed in an invidious position of
either applying for an enhanced package ahead of and parallel to
consultation, or risk a compulsory redundancy on materially worse terms.
The UCU believes the employer is bullying our members and is doing so
with deliberate intention of undermining a meaningful consultation
process.

Anthea Irwin, president of the local association of UCU at Ulster,
said, ‘UCU are deeply saddened to have been forced into declaring a
dispute with the University but we cannot stand by and allow our
management to steamroller through a set of proposals that lack
rationale, unfairly target colleagues in particular areas, and threaten
the breadth of education we offer to our young people.

‘This should be a time of vibrancy and excitement at Ulster, as our
students embark upon their new year of studies with talented and
dedicated staff who inspire them, support them, and prepare them to make
an impact on our society. But all of this is overshadowed by the fact
that our management have demonstrated that they do not respect and value
us, in the way our students and their future employers do. If they did,
they would have worked with us to find a better way to deal with the
Stormont budget cuts.

‘UCU have repeatedly asked management to consult meaningfully with
us, they have not done so, and we have been forced to declare a dispute
as a last resort. It is ironic that at the time the Minister for
Employment and Learning is launching his ‘big conversation’ about higher
education, Ulster University management refuse to have any meaningful
conversation with their employees about how to best protect and nurture
that education through difficult times.

‘UCU are ready and waiting to have that conversation, but we can only
do so if our management halt their unacceptable process and start again
in meaningful consultation with the trade unions.’

Join the Bullied Academics Yahoo Group

Useful and informative Links

• Bad Apple Bullies - If you work as a teacher in Queensland, a Bad Apple Bully principal can destroy your health and your career with malicious gossip and secret sticky-notes.

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• Bully Online - Those who can, do. Those who can't, bully. Bully OnLine is the world's leading web site on workplace bullying and related issues which validates the experience of workplace bullying and provides confirmation, reassurance and re-empowerment.

• Suppression of dissent - The general field of "suppression of dissent" includes whistleblowing, free speech, systems of social control and related topics. The purpose of the site is to foster examination of these issues and action against suppression. It is founded on the assumption that openness and dialogue should be fostered to challenge unaccountable power.

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• The Workplace Bullying Institute is the sole United States organization dedicated to the eradication of workplace bullying through public education, help for individuals, employer solutions and legislative advocacy.